Holy Week - some questions, some thoughts..

 Holy Week – the questions… 

Speaking to someone recently I said how much I valued Holy Week. I’ve thought about that a bit more and wondered what it is about it that is special, and my answer seems to be that it really does encompass so much of what my faith is about…

There are other events and things that have made me reflect more closely on my faith and had a great impact on me, but Holy Week is up there with those things that are formative in my faith. 

So, what is it about for me? Well, I think it’s something to do with the questions raised, and the answers given, or sometimes not. It’s about the statements made and the challenges offered and it’s about the promises made, verbally or implied, and the practical way in which God’s promises are revealed before us. 

Palm Sunday is an exciting day in the church calendar. A day of palm waving and processions, a day of chaos in many churches as those processions move at different speeds in different directions, sometimes with different verses of hymns being sung! And yet, we are drawn into the chaos sometimes. An emotional response. In a restaurant one day, there was a large group of young people celebrating a birthday, and I heard a voice saying, ‘whose birthday is it anyway?’  Drawn into the excitement of the celebrations, it didn’t really matter. 

Who, amongst those who cheered Jesus into Jerusalem, knew why they cheering, or even who they were cheering… Who took the time to see Jesus, to listen to him, to think about what he was standing for? How easy it is for us to get lost in the Palm Sunday chaos and cheering… On Palm Sunday we’re invited to look beyond the cheering, beyond the palm waving and just see Jesus… 

And then on Monday in Holy Week, we think about Jesus overturning the tables in the Temple, furious at the way the Temple authorities were abusing their power. Here we witness Jesus who is strong and ready to stand up for those with little voice of their own. Here we witness Jesus, who wasn’t the meek and mild person we sometimes are told about. This was Jesus who had a passionate desire to care for those who few people cared for. This IS Jesus who asks us what we want for those who need care, for those who need love. Can we follow his example of passionate care?

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Jesus continues to teach his disciples. He talks about his death, but they didn’t want to believe that. All the time, the authorities are getting angrier as they think about this ‘rogue teacher’, but he carries on. Even one of his disciples, Judas, decides that this way of life simply isn’t working, and he agrees to betray Jesus. 

What were his motives? Financial? Or perhaps trying to force Jesus to show his power more obviously? We condemn Judas so easily but shouldn’t overlook how easy it is to be drawn into the temptation of material wealth or power, or a desire to try and force God’s hand – to show we know best… 

And then there was Thursday. Jesus ate supper with the disciples. He washed their feet reminding them of his desire to serve them, YES, to serve them… 

He spoke about the importance of the meal and the importance of continued fellowship after he’d left them physically. He spoke of the betrayal that had already been initiated. He knew of the arrest that was to follow and as he and the disciples went out into the Garden of Gethsemane, he was arrested. It was all part of the plan he knew had to happen.  

Amidst all of this he said, 

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13: 34,35) 

The violence that would follow over the next day, the humiliation and the torture, the rejection, the pain… He knew all about that, but his message was about service and about love… ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples…’ What a challenge for today… What a privilege to be called to do that though… 

On Good Friday, the cross is the obvious thing that stands out – the love that held Jesus to the cross. The outstretched arms open wide to welcome all into his embrace for ever. The forgiveness he offered the convict next to him reminding us that forgiveness is always possible, nobody is beyond God’s love. 

But before that I think of the walk to the cross, carrying the piece of wood that would hold him whilst people watched on as he made his way past them. And those people were called to make a decision. 

Were they watching another criminal going to their execution? Were they watching a deluded man who society needed to be saved from? Or were they watching someone more – someone carrying a cross because he loved them, every single one of them. Every single one of us. 

Laid in the grave, the end of Good Friday must have been so confusing for those closest to Jesus. He’d told them about his death, he’d promised life, but what did it all mean? Who expected him to rise from the dead? This was too ridiculous for words…. 

And Saturday of Holy Week is a day that we’re reminded that things don’t always make sense. There are questions without answers, life seems dark… 

But we live with the knowledge of the light of the following day. Sometimes the darkness overtakes us, sometimes life is hard, sometimes it doesn’t seem to make sense and God seems distant, but the light is there… The light of Easter Day. History changed… 

Jesus was dead but rose to life. It was too ridiculous to make up and even if someone did, we can’t overlook the fact that the Romans were good at killing people and good at making sure that it wasn’t easy to make up some story about resurrection… It was too ridiculous to be true… if it wasn’t true… 

The authorities were happy with an imposter put to death. The Romans were satisfied that another ‘troublemaker’ had been killed and they knew lots about killing and about death… but Jesus knew about life. 

He knew and he knows more about life than anyone and he offers that life for everyone. In the Bible Jesus talks about offering ‘fulness of life’ to all (John 10:10). It’s not an empty promise but an open invitation… 

We may not have perfect lives (we won’t!), we may not have perfect churches (we won’t!), but Holy Week is a reminder to come as we are, to trust and follow - to “let Love love you….”

That’s why Holy Week is special for me.